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Ribavirin Reduces Mortality in Enterovirus 71–Infected Mice by Decreasing Viral Replication

2008; Oxford University Press; Volume: 197; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/527326

1537-6613

Zhao‐Hong Li, Chien‐Ming Li, Pin Ling, Fang‐Hsiu Shen, Shih‐Heng Chen, Ching‐Chuan Liu, Chun‐Keung Yu, Shun‐Hua Chen,

Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes fatal encephalitis in young children. However, there is no effective antiviral drug available for infected patients. Ribavirin is currently used for the treatment of several RNA virus infections clinically, so its anti-EV71 efficacy was evaluated. In vitro results showed that ribavirin effectively reduced the viral yields (with an IC50 of 65 μg/mL) and virus-induced cytopathic effect in human and mouse cell lines. In vivo results showed that ribavirin reduced the mortality, morbidity, and subsequent paralysis sequelae in infected mice by decreasing viral loads in tissues. Thus, ribavirin could be a potential anti-EV71 drug